by Lindsay H Jones, USATODAY

It is realistic to foresee by the time the 2013 regular season is over, the Broncos could have a different player lead the team in the three main receiving categories - catches, yards and touchdown - a luxury for quarterback Peyton Manning and Gase ... and a potential disaster for anyone hoping to build a fantasy team around a Bronco receiver.

Gase, in his first year of calling plays for the Broncos, gets it. His buddies bug him with text messages, looking for insider fantasy football tips about which receiver might get the most targets, or which running back is going to start. Gase won't give any hints - and not just because he doesn't want secrets leaking out.

It's also because, if the offense operates like it could, Gase can't give a definitive answer. Gase, while sitting at a picnic table near the Broncos' practice field this week, used his hands to mimic a roller coaster as he talked about Demaryius Thomas (the deep threat), Eric Decker (the red zone target) and Wes Welker (the slot receiver).

"If you take this guy away, we're going to this guy. You take that guy away, we're going to this guy. What Peyton does a great job at is, he's not looking for a guy, he's looking for the right guy," Gase told USA TODAY Sports. "It's not a jersey number, it's 'What is my progression telling me to do?'"

Thomas told USA TODAY Sports this week if he could pick only one of those receiving stats, he'd want to be the team's leader in yards. That's partly because he understands Welker's prolific history (five 100-catch seasons in the last six years) and Decker's red-zone chemistry with Manning that led to 13 touchdowns in 2012, more than all but one other receiver in the league.

"They want me to be the deep threat, so I'll take the yards," Thomas said. "Decker gets the touchdowns. That would be cool with me."

This isn't not a new scenario for Manning, who threw passes to one of the most accomplished receiving corps in NFL history while with the Indianapolis Colts. Gase saw just how perfectly it could work nearly a decade ago.

Gase was a young scouting assistant with the Detroit Lions in 2004 when Manning brought the Colts to Ford Field on Thanksgiving and threw six touchdown passes, three apiece to Brandon Stokley and Marvin Harrison. The Colts pulled Manning in the third quarter of a game still known in Detroit as the "Thanksgiving Massacre."

By the time that season was over, Harrison, Stokley and Reggie Wayne each had more than 1,000 receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns. Manning threw a then-NFL record 49 touchdowns that year.

Harrison, Wayne and Stokley were one of only five trios in NFL history with 1,000 yards each in the same season for the same team. The Arizona Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston were the most recent group to accomplish the feat during that team's run to Super Bowl XLIII after the 2008 season.

Could Thomas, Welker and Decker be next?

All three had more than 1,000 receiving yards last season, though Welker accumulated all of his numbers with the New England Patriots.

"Believe me, our job is to get the ball in our playmakers' hands, whether it's Decker, Thomas, Welker, (WR Andre) Caldwell, (tight end Julius) Thomas, or give it to our backs," Manning said. "I think to be a good football player, to be on a good football team, you've got to have an unselfish attitude."

Manning had the second-most pass attempts in his career last year (583), his first season with the Broncos, and Denver showed an even more up-tempo offense and eagerness to throw this August. In the third preseason game, the one considered to be the dress rehearsal, Manning threw 34 passes (with 25 completions, including a touchdown and one interception) in the first two quarters.

Gase admitted after the game that "it was a little excessive," and the Broncos don't plan to have Manning routinely throwing that much.

But the Broncos are confident there will be enough passes to go around. It helps that Decker, Thomas and Welker are all familiar with playing in an offense where he might not be the No. 1 guy, and none has a diva reputation.

"Goal number one is making sure we're going out there and winning. If that means blocking all day and having zero catches, I think we're all on the same page with just winning ball games," Welker said Tuesday.

Cornerback Champ Bailey and his defensive back teammates spent the past month trying to match up against the wideout trio. Bailey recalled having to play against the Harrison-Wayne-Stokley group in 2004 and said the challenge for Denver's opponents now might be even greater because of the way each receiver can line up in multiple places.

"You take your pick. They all play like No. 1 receivers," Bailey said. "I don't care where they play, or where they line up, that corner is going to have his hands full."